Explosive devices including gas generators, military ordnance or artillery shells, and other munitions pose a mass detonation hazard in the event of a fire onboard a sea-going vessel or in a storage facility such as a warehouse or a magazine. It is an ongoing challenge to actuate these devices prior to the temperature exceeding the point of detonation or explosion.
Auto-ignition materials in automotive air bag inflators or on military ordnance, for example, allow the respective device to safely deploy or actuate in the event of a fire. By including an auto-ignition composition the likelihood of a safety hazard resulting from the bursting of an inflator is substantially reduced.
Accordingly, most inflators or gas generators for vehicle occupant protection systems, for example, typically include an auto-ignition composition juxtaposed next to a discrete booster composition. In the event of a fire, the auto-ignition composition ignites to thereby ignite the booster composition which thereby ignites the main gas generant. As such, the fire hazard is substantially mitigated.
Yet another challenge is to apply the auto-ignition composition on or within the respective device to permit quick ignition of the composition and subsequent actuation of the primary propellant or gas generating composition within the respective device.
Yet another challenge is to ensure the thermal stability and integrity of the composition when aged in severe environments for long periods of time.
Yet another challenge is to provide a composition that will self-ignite over a wide range of temperatures by tailoring the constituents therein.